Pressurized dispensing package



Feb. 1, 1966 w. c. BEARD, JR 3,232,493

PRESSURI ZED DISPENS ING PACKAGE Filed March 10, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 12!! I IXI n INVENTOR WALTER c. BEARD, J

6/! ATTORNEY;

Feb. 1, 1966 w. c. BEARD, JR

PRESSURIZED DISPENSING PACKAGE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 10, 1964 Pig 2 1' NVEN TOR. WAL m2 c. BEA/av, JR

///5 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,232,493 PRESSURIZED DISPENSING PACKAGE Walter C. Beard, In, Middlehury, Conn., assignor to The Risdon Manufacturing Company, Naugatuck, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Mar. 10, 1964, Ser. No. 350,792 5 Claims. (Cl. 222-193) The invention relates to the dispensing of a material from a pressurized or aerosol container, and especially to the controlled dispensing of a quantity of a material which for various reasons it is desired to maintain in non-admixed condition in respect to the propellant employed in the container. Primary application of the invention is in the internal administration of such materials as therapeutic agents to animals and human beings, but the invention may be used in other applications also, as in the dispensing generally of germicidal, insecticidal and deodorant agents as the active material.

The term active material is used herein to designate any substance to be dispensed constituting the useful or operative component of the product which emerges from the container. The active material may be, and most frequently is, in powder form, although it may also be liquid in form. For various reasons such as differences in solubility or specific gravity between an active material and a carrier or vehicle, leading to separation or stratification of the two upon standing, or because of deleterious effect of protracted contact of the carrier with the active material, it is desired to keep them separated within the dispensing container prior to actual use.

In the treatment of disease in human beings and animals it is often high desirable to administer medicines and other therapeutic agents internally of the body through any of the various body openings. Frequently the therapeutic or other active material occurs naturally as a powder. In the past, the more conventional form of administering such a material has been to a-dmix it with a suitable vehicle or carrier to provide an oil or water base solution or emulsion. This may then be injected by means of a syringe internally of the person or animal being treated.

The necessity for employing a vehicle has the drawback of introducing a carrier substance, the presence of which in the patient may be objectionable, particularly where the carrier persists in the patient for some appreciable period of time. A specific object of the present invention accordingly is to provide means for internally administering to human beings or animals a therapeutic agent with a non-persistent carrier or vehicle, and particularly to provide a self-contained pressurized or aerosol package in which the active ingredient to be dispensed is isolated or separated from the propellant medium except during periods of actual dispensing.

Briefly, and in general, the invention comprises a pressurized package in which a non-admixed active material to be dispensed, e.g. a powder, is contained along with a superatmospheric propellant, such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen or other appropriate aerosol propellant. The active material is contained as a discrete mass in a chamber in the container and is so positioned as to be instream between the gaseous propellant and the control valve for the package so that, upon opening of the valve, the escaping propellant must pass through the mass of the material and cause entrainment thereof. Preferably, the material is contained within its own capsule and the capsule is hung from a typical aerosol valve mounted in the mouth of the container. The capsule is provided with an opening at one end which registers with the inlet opening of the valve and another opening which communicates with the interior of the container, thus forming in effect a ducted continuation of the valve housing. The escape route for the gaseous propellant, therefore, passes through the active material capsule of the container. During the escape of the gas from the container, the material is entrained therewith and also expelled from the container. In this way there is obtained a complete dispensing of the material with the gaseous propellant. Inasmuch as the propellant may, if desired, be selected from any one of a number of substantially inert gases, it will be seen that the invention permits the material to be administered without resort to an objectional vehicle or carrier therefor, or one that persists for a substantial period of time after being dispensed.

Provision is made in the capsule for assuring an admixture of the material with the gaseous propellant. Due to the tendency of a discrete mass of powder, e.g., to agglomerate in, or a liquid to separate from, a typical aerosol propellant (whether of the condensable or noncondensable type) in the container, it is necessary to pass the propellant through the capsule in such a way as to break up the material mass. According to the invention here disclosed, the material capsule is so formed as to permit the propellant to flow around the mass and to impinge upon it at a number of points substantially simultaneously. In preferred form, the interior walls of the material chamber are tapered to diverge in the direction of flow. Propellant then flows around the material, im pinging on all sides and breaking up the agglomeratedor liquid mass.

of the container.

Reference will now be had to the accompanying draw-- ings for a detailed description of a presently preferredembodiment of the invention as applied to dispensing ofa powder as the active material. The arrangement shown, however, serves also to illustrate how a liquid as the active material may similarly be packaged and dispensed. It is to be understood that the description to follow is by wayof example only and is not intended to define the scope of the invention, the claims appended hereto, together with their lawful equivalents, being relied upon for that purpose.

Of the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view in elevation of a pressurized package incorporating a preferred form of the invention, the package being shown with its valve in non-actuated position, and

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the package, similar to FIG. 1, showing the valve in actuated or material-dispensing position.

The treatment of bovine mastitis will serve as 2i specific example for illustrating the advantages of the present invention. In the treatment of mastitis it is desirable to dispense a therapeutic agent, such as an antibiotic, internally of the cows udder. This can be done by embodying the agent within a liquid carrier and injecting the solution into the udder by means of a syringe or some other suitable device. However, due to the possibility of contaminating the milk from the cow through the build up of undesirable residues, alternate methods of application are desirable. The pressurized package shown in FIG. 1 is designed to provide such an alternate method of application in which the therapeutic agent may be employed in dry powder form without the necessity for dissolving or suspending the powder in a carrier solution.

As will be seen by reference to FIG. 1, the pressurized package 10 comprises a generally cylindrical container 12 having a valve mounting cup 14 crimped onto the container mouth. The mounting cup 14 has a central well 16 with a raised pedestal 18 formed in the center thereof,

The active material commingled with' the propellant then exists immediately through the valve add the cup serves to close off the container 12 in a pressure-tight manner. The active material to be dispensed, in this case the powdered therapeutic agent, together with a propellant at superatmospheric pressure, are confined within the container 12 in a manner to be more fully described hereinafter.

' A valve 19 for controlling the discharge from the package is secured within the pedestal 18 by crimping the pedestal inwardly 'under a lip 20 of valve body 22, as indicated at 24. Valve 19 has a hollow reciprocable valve stem 26-that extends upwardly and outwardly beyond the upper surface 28 of the pedestal 18 through an opening 3% formed therein. Mounted over the upper end ofvalve stem'26 is a combined valve actuator and applicator 32. The applicator 32 shown is especially designed to facilitate insertion within the teats of a cows udder, hence its long slender configuration.

The valve body22 is generally tubularand is open at its upper end 34. An annular recess 36 is formed adjacent the opening 34 and an annular sealing gasket 38 is located in-the recess 36 thereat. The inner edge40 of the gasket 38'sealingly engages the hollow valve stem 26 and normally serves to seal off the outlet orifice 42 laterally formed in the wall of the stem 26. Immediately below the lateral outlet orifice 42 the valve stem 26 widens so as to form a shoulder 44 that engages the underside 46 of the sealing gasket 38. The lower end 48 of the valve stem 26 has anannular recess 50'that receives the upper end'of a return spring 52. The function 'of the return spring 52 is to normally dispose the hollow valve stem 26 in its outermost position (shown in FIG. 1) in which the outlet orifice'42 is closed oil? by the gasket 28, and the shoulder 44 on the stern presses against the gasket 38 to eifec't a pressure tight seal at that point. The lower end of the return spring-52 rests on the bottom of an internal chamber 54 formed within valve body 22. A relatively large inlet passageway 56 is formed in the tailpiece '58 of the valve body 22 extending from the lower end of the valve body to the internal chamber 54. Ordinarily the inletpassageway 56 would communicate with the interior of the container 12 through a dip tube but, in this instance, the passageway 56 is made to communicate with a capsule 60 containing the material which it is desired to dispense.

Capsule 60 is suspended by frictional engagement with the tailpiece 58 of valve body 22. To this end the capsule 60 has a removable cover 62 with a raised annular collar 64 that grips tailpiece 58 and secures the capsule 60 thereto. By reason of this arrangement the inlet passageway 56 in the tailpiece 58 opens into the interior of the capsule 60 instead of directly into the interior of container 12 as in conventional aerosol packages. Although the capsule 60 is outwardly cylindrical in shape as here illustrated the interior chamber 66 thereof into which the inlet passageway 56 opens is frusto-conical in shape. The purpose of the outer cylindrical wall 58 which, as seen is made to extend somewhat below the conical inner wall 70, enables the capsule 60 to be stood upright prior to assembly with valve 19, in order to facilitate the filling and handling of the capsule.

The active material, in this case powder 72, is held in the conical inner chamber 66 of the capsule 66, forming a duct-like extension of the valve. At the bottom of the chamber 66 the inner wall 70 forms a reduced opening 74, and a resilient plug or stopper 76 is inserted into this opening to support the powder 72 within chamber 66. Plug 76 is formed from a compressible material such as rubber and has a central diaphragm or membrane 78 extending transversely of the wall 80 of plug 76. A slit 82 is cut in the diaphragm 78, preferably at an oblique angle relative to wall 80, so that it will normally be closed and prevent powder from passing downward therethrough. However, upon the opening of the valve 19 and the creation of a pressure differential across the membrane 78, the slit 82 opens to pass prope ant into chamber 66.

' mesh screen.

The operation of the dispensing package will be described with reference to FIG. 2. After nozzle 84 of the actuator 32 has been inserted within the teat of a cow, downward pressure is exerted on the finger members or wings 86, 86 of the actuator to force the actuator 32 and the hollow valve stem 26 axially inwardly of the: container 12. Inward movement of the hollow valve: stem disposes the outlet orifice 42 below the gasket 38 and vents the internal chamber 54 of the valve body 227 and chamber 66 in the capsule 60 to atmosphere.

of plug and into chamber 66.

will move upwardly as a whole. As soon as the powder 72 begins to move upwardly spaces open up between the powder 72 and the tapered wall 70 of the chamber. The propellant then flows through these spaces, and impinges on the powder mass at a number of points along the sides or wall of chamber 66. This multiple impingement of propellant on the mass of powder serves to break up the mass of powder into individual particles which then become entrained with the propellant and leave the chamber 66 through the inlet passage 56 of the valve body 22. From the passageway 56 the powder-laden propellant passes through the internal chamber 54, out through the outlet orifice 42, hollow valve stem 26 and discharge passageway 88 in the actuator 32.

It will be seen that by hanging the material capsule 60 from the tailpiece 53 of the control valve 19, a body of active material, in this case powder 72, is interposed instream between the propellant and the outlet valve. Escape of the propellant from the container thus assures that the active material Will be swept up in the propellant discharge, a condition which would not otherwise be as- .assured if the material is simply admixed with the propellant as agglomeration or Stratification can then cause uneven or non-uniform distribution, plugging of orifices in: the package and various other difiiculties. Tapering the: walls of chamber 66 in the capsule helps to assure break. up of the active material, particularly in the case of a powder, into fine particles more readily capable of being entrained by the propellant flow.

Various changes may be made from the preferred embodiment of the invention. For example the outer cylindrical wall of the capsule is not essential to the use of the invention but is preferred because it permits the capsule to he stood on end for filling and assembling purposes and facilitates the handling of the capsule by automatic :hopper devices. So also there may be employed a different manner of providing a propellant-permeable support for the active material in the capsule, for example a fine Likewise the particular type and form of aerosol valve employed in the container is not material to the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A self-contained package for pressurized dispensing of an active material comprising,

(a) a container for a propellant at superatmospheric pressure,

(b) a control valve mounted on the container and operable to vent the container to atmosphere, and

(c) a capsule for supporting said active material in non-admixed condition in said container, said capsule being frictionally secured to the valve, and having:

(1) an outlet opening communicating with the control valve,

(2) an inlet opening communicating with the interior of the container,

(3) a chamber for holding a discrete mass of said active material, disposed between said inlet and outlet openings, and

(4) a propellant-permeable resilient plug having a normally closed aperture in theinletopening of said chamber, said plug aperture being opened Pro-- pellant then flows through slit 82 in the membrane 78 Initially, since some agglomeration of the powder 72 will most likely have taken place while the package was not in use, the powder for the passage of propellant upon the creation of a pressure difierential across the plug when the control valve is opened,

(d) whereby the flow of propellant through said capsule chamber will break up and entrain said active material in the escaping propellant.

2. A self-contained package for pressurized dispensing of an active material comprising,

(a) a container for a propellant under superatmospheric pressure,

(b) a control valve for the container operable to vent the container to atmosphere, and

(c) a capsule having a chamber for said active material,

said capsule being mounted interiorly of the container and comprising a ducted continuation of said valve at the inner end thereof, said capsule chamber having (1) an outlet opening communicating with said valve and an inlet opening communicating with the interior of the container, and

(2) propellant-permeable means provided across said inlet opening to retain said active material in said chamber, said means comprising a resilient plug having a transverse membrane and a normally closed aperture in said membrane, said aperture being opened upon the creation of a pressure difference across the plug when the control valve is opened to allow passage of propellant therethrough.

3. A material-containing capsule for mounting internally of a pressurized valved contained to segregate and support an active material therein separately of other materials in such a container but dispersible therewith, said capsule comprising,

(a) a wall defining a chamber for said active material and having inlet and outlet openings for communication respectively and independently with the interior of the container and the valve,

5 (b) means including said chamber wall for confining the active material adjacent said inlet of said capsule so as to dispose said active material in-streatn between said inlet and outlet of said chamber,

(1) said means being rendered permeable to the propellant in the container only upon creation of a predetermined pressure differential of propellant across said means. i

4. A capsule as set forth in claim 3, wherein said capsule has an inner frusto-conical wall forming said active material chamber and an outer cylindrical wall extending about and axially beyond said inner wall at the inlet end enabling said capsule to be stood upright on itsinlet end.

5. A capsule as set forth in claim 3, wherein said capsule has a removable cover having an aperture forming the outlet to said active material chamber, said cover having a collar formed about the aperture therein so sized as to provide frictional engagement with the valve of the container whereby said capsule may be hung interiorly of the container.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,829,922 9/1955 Osrow et al. 222-193 X 2,932,43 3 4/ 1957 Olplanalp 2223 94 3,131,834 5/1964 Meshberg 222399 3,158,326 11/1964 Remane 222-394 X LOUIS J. DEMBO, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SELF-CONTAINED PACKAGE FOR PRESSURIZED DISPENSING OF AN ACTIVE MATERIAL COMPRISING, (A) A CONTAINER FOR A PROPELLANT AT SUPERATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE, (B) A CONTROL VALVE MOUNTED ON THE CONTAINER AND OPERABLE TO VENT THE CONTAINER TO ATMOSPHERE, AND (C) A CAPSULE FOR SUPPORTING SAID ACTIVE MATERIAL IN NON-ADMIXED CONDITION IN SAID CONTAINER, SAID CAPSULE BEING FRICTIONALLY SECURED TO THE VALVE, AND HAVING: (1) AN OUTLET OPENING COMMUNICATING WITH THE CONTROL VALVE, (2) AN INLET OPENING COMMUNICATING WITH THE INTERIOR OF THE CONTAINER, (3) A CHAMBER FOR HOLDING A DISCRETE MASS OF SAID ACTIVE MATERIAL, DISPOSED BETWEEN SAID INLET AND OUTLET OPENINGS, AND (4) A PROPELLANT-PERMEABLE RESILIENT PLUG HAVING A NORMALLY CLOSED APERTURE IN THE INLET OPENING OF SAID CHAMBER, SAID PLUG APERTURE BEING OPENED 